Thanks to Shella, I was made aware of something I forgot to warn everyone about. She mentioned that my portrayal of Chi-Chi almost seemed like character bashing. To set things straight, let me first state that I do NOT dislike Chi-Chi. If I met her in real life, I think my personality would clash with hers, but that's entirely beside the point. She's an awesome character, literarily speaking. The reason why her characterization seems to be a little overdone in some areas is because this story is almost purely from Radditz's point of view. His views and opinions are coloring how each character is portrayed. So if someone (e.g. Chi-Chi) seems to be getting cast in an overly negative or overly positive light, it's because we're seeing things through Radditz's eyes. I suppose I could have written this in first person perspective to emphasize that, but I really don't like writing in first person for the most part.
The other thing that readers probably won't realize at first is that this story starts off in the middle of a transition period. Bardock and Radditz are still getting used to this new life on Earth and their new family. Relationships are still rough, even between Bardock and Goku, but especially with Chi-Chi. She doesn't strike me as the type of character that is easy to get along with at first. Not until you get to know her better. So, again, what may seem like character bashing is really the result of strained relationships.
One last thing to remember: Radditz IS a fifteen year old boy, and we ALL know how moody they can be. *pats Radditz on the head* Don't be too hard on him for acting his age.
Disclaimer: The only cash I have right now is ten American dollars, which I owe to someone else for a favor they're doing me. Does that sound like the way a rich creator of a highly popular anime would live? I think not. Guess that means I don't own DBZ. ^_^*
High School? But I'm an Alien!
(No More Door Abuse Please!)
"How could you side with HER?!" Radditz exploded as soon as he and his father got home. "Whatever happened to loyalty to family, huh?! And since when did her opinion count for more than mine?! I'm your SON-"
"And I'm your father!" Bardock snapped, cutting the fifteen year old off in mid-rant. Growling angrily, the older Saiyan slammed the door shut behind him with so much force that it was a surprise that it didn't break. He then stalked over to his son and leveled one finger at the boy's chest, giving him a glare so hot it would have melted steel. "I am doing what I feel is best for you, regardless of who agrees or disagrees with me! Chi-Chi's opinion had nothing to do with my decision to send you to public school. In fact, it was my idea in the first place!"
That brought Radditz up short. The teenager stared at his father incredulously, so surprised that he completely forgot he was angry. "What?"
Bardock folded his arms. "You heard me. It was my idea to send you to public school. I mentioned it to Chi-Chi, and she told me she'd been having thoughts along the same lines."
Looking somewhat nonplused, Radditz folded his arms as well and scowled challengingly back at his father. "Then why did she make it sound as if it was her idea?"
"Because," Bardock sighed, "as I just told you, she'd been having the same thoughts. Maybe she does think it was her idea, but I'm the one who brought it up. If you're going to be angry at someone, at least put the blame where it belongs." His lips compressed into a hard, thin line. "And next time, you will not humiliate me like that in front of someone, Radditz. I thought I raised you better than that! Did you have to use that particular insult? And translate it?!"
Smirking with contrived innocence, the wild maned teen flopped down onto their couch. "What? It was true! She is a-"
"Radditz..." Bardock glared warningly.
"Sorry, tousan," Radditz replied unrepentantly. The smirk slipped off his face, replaced instead by a sulky scowl. "I still don't see why you want to send me to an Earth school. I'm doing just fine learning things from books!" His tail twitched beside him agitatedly, just as telling an indication of his mood as his face, assuming you knew how to read emotions from tail gestures.
Rolling his eyes at his son's moodiness, Bardock sat down on the couch as well. "There are other things to learn besides what you can find in books. How to interact with people, for one thing," he said pointedly. "After the way you behaved today I'm more convinced than ever that you need to go to school and socialize with other teenagers."
"But they're human teenagers, dad!" Radditz protested. "I'm not like them! How the hell do you expect me to learn human social behaviors? And why would you want me to?!"
Bardock raised an eyebrow at the younger Saiyan. "That's funny. Your brother seems to have no problem learning human behavior."
"He doesn't count, dad," Radditz grumbled irritably. "He hit his head on a rock, forgot everything about being a Saiyan, and was raised as a human. And you didn't answer my question!"
An exasperated sigh blew threw Bardock's lips. "In case you forgot, Earth is our home now, Radditz. It's important to learn how to co-exist with the planet's other inhabitants, and that includes learning how to interact with them on a daily basis."
"Oh yeah?" Radditz shot back. "If it's so important, then why aren't you going to school with me?!"
Bardock's eyebrow twitched with annoyance. Abruptly standing up, the elder warrior started pacing, a habit that Radditz had learned to recognize as his father's way of trying to control his temper. "Radditz, I'm starting to get fed up with your attitude! As your father I deserve more respect than you've been giving me lately! Not only that, but it seems like you're trying to pick a fight with everyone you meet today. First Chi-Chi, now me; just what the hell is wrong with you?!"
Angrily rising to his feet, Radditz glared at his father. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe I'd like to have some say in what you decided to do with my life?! But, nooo! You just up and announce to Chi-Chi that you think I should go to school, and she agrees, and nobody bothers to consult me! I'm fifteen years old, father! Maybe that's not old enough to consider me an adult, but it sure as hell ought to give me a little control over my own life! In case you forgot, I was in Frieza's army, same as you! If I'm old enough to go on planet clearing missions on my own, I should be old enough that you could at least ask me how I felt about going to public school!"
"Don't take that tone with me, Radditz," Bardock growled, eyes flashing. "And using Frieza's army is hardly the example I'd give to prove my maturity, if I were you. Frieza isn't exactly known for caring what age his soldiers are!"
"That's not the point!" Radditz yelled back. "The point is that I'm not a child anymore, so stop treating me like one!" Whirling around, the Saiyan teen stormed out of the room with his tail lashing furiously behind him. Moments later the capsule house shook for the second time in the last five minutes as yet another door was slammed shut.
Much more of that kind of treatment, and Bardock and Radditz wouldn't have any doors left to abuse.
~*~
For the next several days the tension in the house was thick enough to crawl down your throat and choke you to death if you weren't careful. Neither Saiyan wanted to back down, each feeling that they were clearly in the right and that the other should bend to their point of view. Fortunately for the Son household, Chi-Chi had canceled their daily reading lessons so that she could start looking into where to send Radditz to school. Orange Star High had been the best option at the time she had sent Gohan to school, and likely still was, but she just wanted to be sure. It wouldn't do to send her husband's brother to anywhere but the best of schools. After all, he was family! But without the daily visits from Bardock and Radditz, the Son family was spared the bouts of frigid silence and heated arguments that the two Saiyans were prone to. Thank Kami for small blessings.
It wasn't until Gohan flew over to their house with a sheaf of papers in his hand - paperwork to get Radditz registered for school at Orange Star High - that the stalemate was finally broken.
Naturally, as soon as Radditz realized the reason for Gohan's visit he immediately retreated to his room and slammed the door shut for what must have been the hundredth time that week. It was a miracle that poor door had lasted this long! The moody teenager threw himself onto his bed and glared up at the ceiling, angry with his father, angry with Chi-Chi, angry with Gohan... heck, he was angry with the world in general! Stupid planet with its baka ningen and their blasted public schools....
Knock knock knock.
At the sound of someone knocking at his door, Radditz growled. "Go away!"
In blatant disregard for that command, the door opened up to reveal none other than Son Gohan. The nineteen year old demi-Saiyan took a few steps into the room and gently closed the door before turning around to face his uncle. "I wanted to talk to you, Radditz," he said calmly.
Radditz glared. "Well, that makes one of us, because I don't want to talk to you! Get out, Gohan!" At this point he didn't even care that Gohan was a Super Saiyan and could easily tear him limb from limb. At least then he wouldn't be forced to go to school with a bunch of teenage humans!
Once again ignoring his rude comments, Gohan shook his head. "Look, I know what you're going through, Radditz. I was eighteen when my mother suddenly decided that I needed to go to a 'real' school so I could get my high school diploma and get into a good college. I thought it was a complete waste of my time, considering that I already knew everything they were going to teach me there. Then I met Videl and decided that maybe high school wasn't so bad." A slightly goofy grin crossed Gohan's face, causing Radditz to snort in disgust.
"I'm not interested in meeting girls," he stated bluntly.
Once again serious, Gohan folded his arms. "Have you even thought this through completely?" Seeing the younger boy's confusion at this question, he elaborated. "Have you thought of what will happen if you somehow convince my mom and your dad not to send you to high school?"
"What do you mean?" Radditz asked suspiciously.
"I mean that you'll still have to go to school, and that if you don't go to public high school, that means you're going to be home schooled." Giving his fifteen year old uncle a pointed look, Gohan added, "By my mom."
"What?!" Radditz yelped, alarmed by even the thought. Once a day for short reading lessons was bad enough, he didn't even want to think what it would be like to be under his sister-in-law's tutelage for hours on end every day!
"There isn't any way out of it, Radditz," the older teen commented wryly. "When you're related to my mom, even if it's only by marriage, it's practically law that you get a good education. Heck, she even got dad to take driving lessons, even though flying is faster and cheaper. So, you have a choice: You can go to Orange Star High, or you can be home schooled. Given how you and my mom don't really get along, I think you'd probably be happier in public high school."
Radditz hesitated, unwilling to give up his moral high ground, but was finally forced to concede Gohan's point. A sigh of resignation escaped his lips as he rolled over onto his side, facing away from his nephew. "Fine," he said wearily. "Go tell my father I'll go to public school." Hearing Gohan's footsteps recede and the door open and shut again, as quietly as the first time, the hapless teen groaned. Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?
~*~
Within a week Radditz was registered to attend school at Orange Star High. Because of the huge distance between their current location and Radditz's habit of waking up late, Bardock and Radditz ended up moving their capsule house closer to Satan City, although still well away from the rest of civilization. Chi-Chi had called Bulma in to help speed up the registration process, knowing that school would start in less than two weeks. She stressed time and time again how important it was to be there on the first day of school and making a good impression on the teachers. Radditz couldn't care less - but he made sure not to say that out loud.
After they had successfully finished signing Radditz up to attend high school, Bulma had helpfully offered to take the teenage boy shopping to get him some nice "school clothes," as she had called them. Radditz had balked at first, remembering quite well what had happened the last time he'd gone clothes shopping with the blue haired onna. However, no one resists Bulma Briefs when it comes to going shopping, and it didn't take long for the scientific genius to get the young Saiyan to change his mind. Of course, it had helped that Vegeta had walked in during their argument and had barked out an order to "Just shut up and do as the onna wants, brat!"
And so here Radditz was, deep in the heart of the Satan City mall, with the world's richest woman and her infant daughter, the newly born Bra Briefs, at his side.
"Here, Radditz. I want you to go into that room and try these on to see how they fit," Bulma said, handing him a couple white button-up shirts and dark navy pants.
Radditz sighed as he accepted them with a wordless grumble, then trudged his way over to the changing rooms. It hadn't been that bad, really, shopping with the older version of the little girl he'd met in the past. This Bulma Briefs was happily married - to Vegeta-ouji of all people! - and wasn't constantly ogling him or trying to get him into the most ridiculous outfits. There had been no incidences with biker stores and no ice cream in his hair, no brightly colored, eye wrenching shirts and no 'tuxedos'. Bulma had even made sure to feed him lunch before they went shopping, so he wasn't starving to death, either! Obviously she had gone shopping with Saiyans before and knew well the limits of their appetites. Nor was she trying to drag him into every store they passed, for which Radditz was extremely grateful. No, this was a shopping trip with a mission, and it seemed likely that as soon as they had picked out a half dozen outfits or so they would be leaving.
Still, shopping was boring, and the process of trying on clothes to find something that fits was nothing short of tedious. At least Bulma had a good eye for size and figure, so pretty much everything she handed to Radditz fit. It was only a matter of finding clothes that measured up to some intangible scale of "looking good on him and still being appropriate for school." Radditz had never been to an Earth school before, obviously, so he had to trust Bulma's judgment on this completely. That, of course, was exactly what Bulma wanted.
Pulling on one of the pairs of pants and buttoning up the shirt, the Saiyan teen tucked the shirt tails into his pants as Bulma had instructed him, then stepped back out of the changing room. With a sigh he headed straight to where he could see the woman examining some clothes, wanting to get this whole thing over with as soon as possible. He caught Bulma's attention and, as soon as she looked away from the rack of clothes, started turning around slowly so she could see how everything fit. They'd been through this process enough times already that he did it automatically now.
"Hmm..." Bulma pursed her lips and eyed him critically. In her stroller, Bra gurgled and cooed at the sight of his wild mane of hair, which Radditz was very careful not to let get anywhere near her hands. He'd already learned the hard way that Bra was a grabby baby, and for some reason she seemed especially attracted to his hair. His tail, too, for that matter, but it was a lot easier to guard his tail than it was to guard his hair. "How does it feel around the tail?"
"Just fine, Bulma-san," Radditz sighed. Lucky for him, this planet had more than one species, so there were clothes designed to fit the animal-like beings he saw from time to time, which meant that there were clothes that were made to accommodate people with tails. That didn't stop Bulma from asking each time if the current pair of pants fit around his tail. I guess I should consider myself fortunate that she even cares. Better to have to answer the same question over and over again than to have pants that pinch my tail.
"Well, the other shirt and pants I gave you are the same size and style, so they'll probably fit just fine." Radditz gaped at her. Was she saying that she wasn't going to make him try on the other pair of clothes before buying them? "I think we have enough clothes now to last you through the beginning of school. We'll probably need to take you shopping again sometime around Christmas. Sooner, if you don't take care of your clothes."
"Christmas?" There was that term again. What did this "Christmas" have to do with buying clothes?
"Oh, that's right. You're not familiar with Earth holidays. Christmas is a religious holiday that happens near the beginning of winter that a lot of people like to celebrate by giving gifts, visiting family and friends, and that sort of thing. There's more to it than that, of course, but you probably wouldn't understand just yet and it'd take too long to fully explain. Anyway, there are often a lot of sales around that time of year, so that would be the best time to buy more clothes if you need them."
"Oh." Well, that made a lot more sense than what he'd managed to glean from the books he'd read.
"Go change back into your normal clothes and bring the shirts and pants to me so I can pay for them," Bulma said, turning back to the rack of clothes she'd been looking at before Radditz showed up. Radditz glanced at them, just in case it was something he'd have to try on himself, only to discover that the rack was full of baby clothes. Definitely not for the fifteen year old Saiyan.
When Radditz came back and handed the shirts and pants the Bulma, she immediately headed over to a counter to pay for them, leaving the teen to watch over Bra. Radditz eyed the blue haired baby warily, knowing full well that she'd take any chance she could get to grab his hair. Bra blinked innocently up at Radditz, then cooed happily and waved one arm in the boy's direction. Or, more specifically, his hair. The spiky haired teen hopped back a step nervously, eliciting a giggle from the baby he was watching.
"You just like making me jump," he said accusingly, scowling at the little Saiyan princess. Bra gave Radditz a grin and gurgled. "Hmph. I knew it!"
"Okay, I think we've got everything now," Bulma announced as she walked back to the pair and handed Radditz the bags with his new clothes. "Wow, that must have been one of the least stressful shopping trips I've ever taken a Saiyan on! Vegeta always tries to blow people up, and Trunks and Goten are nothing if not mischief makers. You're a very well behaved kid, Radditz, you know that?"
A bead of sweat rolled down the back of the teenager's head. Does everyone think of me as just a kid?! he fumed silently. Not bothering to respond to Bulma's comment, he simply followed her out of the store. High school was really starting to appeal to him. If everyone was going to treat him like a child, at least he wouldn't be alone in the injustice. There'd be hundreds of other teenagers there, many of them similarly discriminated by their friends and family, so he'd probably fit right in. Misery loves company, after all, even if they're only human.
Time passed all too quickly, and as the first day of school drew closer and closer, Radditz was filled with a mixture of dread and anticipation. On the one hand, he still chafed at being forced to attend school with a bunch of humans, not even being given much of a choice in the matter. But on the other hand, this was an opportunity to get away from his father and his brother's family, a chance to get to know people without constantly being compared to his illustrious relatives. No one knew him or his family, so whatever opinions they formed about him were all of his making. He'd be in control of how they viewed him. For the first time in his life, Radditz would be standing on his own merit, and that gave him an almost heady feeling.
So, maybe school wouldn't be so bad. Then again, maybe it would. He'd find out soon, because school started tomorrow.
~~**~~
This chapter wasn't very funny, in my opinion, but it helped me to establish Radditz as a very different character from Gohan, despite having to go through similar trials. It also gave me a chance to explore the relationship between Radditz and his father, something that I felt I was neglecting in Wish For The Past. The only hints you got in WFTP of their relationship leaves you thinking that they get along just fine, but obviously that can't be the case with a teenage Saiyan who not too long ago was exercising independence and rebelliousness by joining Frieza's planet clearing army. Besides, no relationship is ever perfect.
Just in case the conversation with Gohan draws protests from anyone who thinks Gohan was perfectly happy to go along with his mother's plans, let me just state that Gohan was tailoring his reply to Radditz's ears. Gohan is a very diplomatic, peace-maker kind of guy, and he was trying to use their similar experience to get his uncle to relate to him. We won't know exactly how Gohan felt about going to high school because this story isn't about him. It's about Radditz.
Once again, remember that characterization in this story is biased by Radditz's opinions.
Reviews are always welcome, but, as I said last time, they're completely voluntary.